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Seven Reasons I Get Nervous at the Military Ball

Friday, September 5, 2014

Dressing up, putting on my heels and makeup, curling my hair, all of those things make me very excited. Y'all may be asking why? Well because it means that I'll be getting ready for the Air Force ball. And that happens to be tomorrow! But I always get nervous about certain things while I'm there. Maybe y'all do too.

1. My dress being all wrong. I don't want to be the girl that everybody talks about because my dress is too short or shows too much skin or is too flashy or just the wrong color! Okay, so maybe the color couldn't be wrong, but I don't want to clash with John in his uniform. It would look bad on me and be bad for John if I wore an inappropriate dress, and I really don't want that.

2. Having nobody to talk with during Social Hour. The first year John and I went to the ball, we didn't find anybody we knew during the social hour and let me tell you, that was the most awkward, nerve wracking hour of my life. We looked like the nerds trying to fit in at the cool kids party.

3. How social to be during social hour. They serve alcoholic beverages during social hour, but I also have the problem where I'm a lightweight. I get nervous that if I have a glass of wine, I might become too chatty on the off chance I actually have somebody to chat with. But then I fear I may come across as a stiff prude because I'm not having a drink. Oh, the problems!

4. Finding a table and trying not to have awkward conversation. We got lucky last year, John knew quite a few guys from work and I even had a nice conversation with one of the wives, but not being able to make a ball friend is horrible. You sit at the table in silence and just stare at each other.

5. Doing or saying something stupid. I can't help but think about Roxy LeBlanc from Army Wives when I go to the ball each year. I'm always so nervous that I'm going to say the wrong thing to John's NCOs or do something stupid like jump up and salute them. You just have to love Roxy!

6. Trying not to spill your dinner all over your dress! My mama taught me how to be a nice Southern lady, but that doesn't stop me from being nervous when I'm eating at a formal function. Inevitably, I will try to take a bite of salad and have lettuce bits hanging out of my mouth or get bread crumbs all over the table!

7. How do I dance? I always get a little nervous about how much booty shaking I should do at events like this. I mean this is not Senior Prom after all. I will probably settle for a polite amount of behind movement.

I hope I am not alone in my awkward nervousness! Tell me something y'all get nervous about during formal events!

7 comments:

I completely get where you're coming from! I've never been to a ball though, so I would also be stressing about what to expect. My husband still has no desire to take me. *sigh* Someday I'll get him to go.

The only thing that makes me nervous is not knowing exactly what is going to happen at them - like all the formal military stuff. I haven't been to a ball aside from the three I went to while Dan was at the Academy, but we're going to one in December, and I hope I don't end up nervous before then!

Ahhh, the much anticipated yet dreaded military ball! I went to two when my husband was still actively drilling with the Marines. It's harder when it's a reserve unit, so your guy isn't but so close to his unit since he only sees them once a month. I missed out on all the mil balls from when my husband was active duty; some of those balls seemed like prom on steroids!!! Of the reasons you listed, #1 was the one I fretted about the most. It's SO hard to find a dress that is appropriate and yet flattering!

Ashley! Just be social! I know I felt pretty awkward when I went to the Marine Corps Ball. My date was in the ceremony so I just hung out with his so-called friends, but they were taking crap on him and saying how they didn't like him the whole time! It was horrible...but the experience was fun for me because I chose to just be social and laugh with everyone and all that. it made it a lot more fun.